Robert Merritt MD

Robert Ezra Merritt is a general thoracic surgeon with expertise in minimally invasive surgery in the treatment of lung and esophageal cancers. His clinical interests include primary lung carcinoma, esophageal carcinoma, thymic malignancies, primary tumors of the chest wall, tracheal tumors, and secondary lung carcinoma. He also serves as professor and director of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at The Ohio State University, as well as director of inpatient services at The James. He was named to the Castle Connolly list of “Regional Top Doctors” from 2017-2019 and rated in the top 10 percent of physicians in the nation for patient satisfaction in 2015.

He performs robotic-assisted thoracic surgery procedures for the removal of lung tumors and tumors in the mediastinum. Robotic surgery provides a significant advantage over traditional thoracotomy incisions as it's minimally invasive and promotes rapid healing with fewer infections. Robotic-assisted lobectomy is becoming the operation of choice for early-stage lung cancer. His research interest involves tumor immunology. He has investigated the role of Cisplatin mediated upregulation of CD40 ligands in lung cancer cell lines. CD8 T cells contain the CD40 ligand receptor that promotes cancer cell apoptosis, or programmed death, after binding the CD40 ligand. He also performs outcomes research to improve the results of surgical procedures for thoracic malignancies.